Joe Lunardi has Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament hopes hanging on by a thread heading into the weekend and the final 7 games of the regular season.

On Tuesday, the Wildcats suffered a blowout home loss to Arkansas to drop to 16-8 on the season (7-4 in the SEC). Kentucky next plays at Georgia on Saturday, and Lunardi has big-time ramifications for that matchup.

In Lunardi’s latest Bracket Math section for ESPN, he has the Wildcats squarely on the bubble and narrowly making it into the field. Kentucky is the final bubble team to make the projected field, but that could change in a heartbeat.

With a loss to the Bulldogs, Lunardi would have John Calipari’s squad dropping out of the projected NCAA Tournament field altogether.

Down the stretch, any loss for the Wildcats would be a big one. A home game against Tennessee provides the best chance to really improve Kentucky’s stock for March Madness.